Center for Cognitive Applications (CAPS)
CAPS is a multidisciplinary research center bringing together scientists from a number of different academic units (psychology, linguistics, philosophy, management, engineering, anthropology) as well as local industry and other academic institutions in upstate New York.
The CAPS center mission is defined by two central pillars: 1) promoting the multi- and interdisciplinary efforts and connections that set the foundations of cognitive science as a discipline and; 2) developing new avenues to disseminate and apply robust principles discovered in cognitive science research to the benefit of Binghamton University and the broader community. The center provides a forum for discussion and conducting research, and provides resources in support of research. In addition to an active speaker series with local, national and international participants, the center supports and coordinates interdisciplinary courses and research projects and also provides some direct support for research projects and for presentation of research findings.
CAPS Research Opportunities
Member labs in the CAPS center offer research experiences to interested undergraduate students. Most of the labs will ask for a commitment of more than one term, and students should expect to spend (in general) at least 10 hours/week working in the lab. The Psychology Department offers independent study (PSYC 392 and 397) as well as honors research (PSYC 499) opportunities for undergraduates. Students interested in this type of research experience should contact the lab in which they are interested in working. Opportunities are available at various times throughout the year.
CAPS Research Areas
Binghamton University's Center for Cognitive Applications brings together researchers from several academic units along with representatives from local industries and other educational institutions in the region to support research and training in various areas of basic and applied cognitive science.
The center supports research and training in various areas of cognitive science, including research into the nature, structure and development of language skills; conceptual and neural modeling of human thought, memory and decision processes; analogous modeling of cognitive processes in animals; and investigations of perceptual processes in multiple sensory channels as well as inter-sensory integration.
Areas on which CAPS researchers are focused:
- Categorization and reasoning
- Elementary information processing
- Human memory studies
- Memory studies in infants and children
- Language comprehension
- Auditory Cognitive Neuroscience
CAPS Research Center Faculty
CORE Members:
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Peter Gerhardstein: visual perception and memory, cognitive development
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Celia Klin: reading comprehension, memory
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Kenneth Kurtz: concepts and category learning, similarity and analogy, neural network models of cognition, knowledge representation
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Ralph Miller: elementary information processing (animals/humans)
- Sung-Joo Lim: auditory Cognitive Neuroscience
- Cyma Van Petten: psycholinguistics, memory, ERPs
- Deanne Westerman: human memory, face recognition, memory illusions
AFFILIATED Members:
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Andreas D Pape: Economics
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Candace A Mulcahy: Teaching, Learning and Educational Leadership
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Chou-Yu Tsai: School of Management
- Guanhua Yan: Computer Science
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Lijun Yin: Computer Science
- Ozlem Tonguc: Economics
- Ping Yang: Computer Science
- Xingye Qiao: Mathematical Sciences
- Hiroki Sayama: Systems Science and Industrial Engineering
- Shelley D Dionne: School of Management
- Shiqi Zhang: Computer Science
- Zhongfei Zhang: Computer Science
- Affliated Faculty
CAPS Student Travel Awards
Introduction
Graduate student members of the CAPS center are eligible to apply for travel awards to attend conferences in which they present research findings from work done in a CAPS research lab. Each student can receive one award per year, and the student must be a member of a full CAPS-associated lab (not an affiliated lab). Awards are made up to $300 and can be used for air travel, hotel accommodations, and registration expenses. The CAPS center will not reimburse food expenses. Note that additional funding is available to graduate students from the Graduate Student Organization and the Graduate School.
How to apply
Prior to attending the conference, students should send an email request to the CAPS GA. Application materials including a photocopy of a program or other announcement showing the student's accepted presentation should be submitted to the CAPS GA as well.